Scott Considers Tweaking Garbage Rules

Scott Township officials are less than four months after tweaking it to enforce wayward trash cans.

The commissioners met Tuesday night and discussed possibly changing the rules that mandate trash cans be stored behind screening or other locations around the house.

They discussed whether it would be acceptable to grant certain exemptions depending on this style of house–a single-family home compared to a multi-family dwelling–or residential zone.

The worked for six months crafting an ordinance that required residents to store garbage bins within five feet of the side or rear of their homes. But that became difficult to accomplish because of the many different neighborhoods in the township that require some people to store their trash can in the front.

They are now discussing allowing the cans to be stored anywhere around the house within five feet depending on the type of house and zone.

They agreed to hand the discussion over to the public works committee, which will come back with a recommendation on how to tweak the ordinance to make it less burdensome. The township would have to amend the ordinance to make any changes, which could take months.

Also during the meeting…

Commissioner Dennis “DJ” Brooks also suggested the committee discuss addressing the large Bagsters that are becoming an increasingly popular way to replace Dumpsters. The bags give people doing home renovations a cheaper and less bulky alternative. Brooks said some one person on his street is abusing them by leaving them in their yard for two months.

The township is in preliminary talks with a solar panel company to install solar energy trees around the area. The investment would take more than 20 years to pay for itself, but then the township could make money by pumping electricity into the grid. The commissioners said they want to hear more information about the proposal for the Day & Night solar systems before making any decisions.